Friday, 13 June 2008

Hot Trends watch: Concede, hypermiling, Preparation H

Trends Hot Trends is all atwitter with the Clinton rumors.  The word "concede" is No. 1. Not concedes, or concession or conceding, but rather the command form of the verb: concede! It may or may not be noteworthy that searchers' emphasis is on the losing keyword, rather than a word that would represent the bigger story if the rumors are true: "nominee."



Much more hilariously, whether or not it's reflective of the hive mind, is that the term "cheney inbreeding" has made it to No. 26. To the uninitiated, this is quite a striking phrase, and it could cause considerable head scratching. If you are one such head-scratcher, check out Mahalo's page on the story.



No. 2 is "hypermiler" -- a new sort of "extreme driving" borne of the new culture of ballooning gas prices.  Information Week describes hypermiling pithily: "If you occasionally roll down a hill in neutral, I wouldn't call you a hypermiler. If you draft behind other vehicles on a hot day with your windows up and the A/C off, congratulations, you're in the club."



I wonder if we can expect a whole rash of new eco-saving methods...



  • Eco-rafting. Forget flying or taking a cruise ship--that's for wastrels. The new/old way to cross the ocean is rafting, where you assemble your own craft from thousands of plastic bottles and used fishing net, and float across the ocean. It may take six weeks to get to Hawaii, but when you get there it'll seem that much more like paradise.


  • Can-talking: What's the longest distance phone call ever made on a pair of tin cans? Google does not have the answer, so perhaps you could supply it, and in so doing bring back this low-cost, low-energy method of telecommunications. Make sure you have an adult to help.


  • Extreme sitting there: To conserve energy, the truly environmentally conscious do not watch TV, listen to music, use the Internet or fiddle with their Blackberrys, but rather just camp out on the couch all day with the A/C off.


No. 3 is "Preparation H" -- not so fast! It looks like people aren't searching for this old staple for the usual reasons.  Indeed, as ABCNews.com reports, the topical ointment  may be catching on "in the club." Apparently, "guys are slathering up their torsos with the hemorrhoid cream Preparation H to make themselves look 'ripped' for the ladies." But I wonder what the ladies will think when they realize it ain't exercise that's making their man look hot.



See Also

Dawson's Creek star eyes crime film

'Dawson's Creek' star James Van Der Beek is in negotiations to join the cast of a new crime drama called 'The Fifth Mafia'.
The Hollywood Reporter says the film tells the story of the law-abiding son ('24' star Eric Balfour) of a Mafioso who seeks revenge after his father's murder.
Van Der Beek is in negotiations to play an FBI Agent whose life is ruined by the man's quest for revenge.
Production is due to begin at the end of this month.

X Factor star is UK Eurovision entry

Former 'X Factor' star Andy Abraham has been chosen to represent the UK at this year's Eurovision Song Contest.
The 43-year-old former dustbin-man was chosen by the public to travel to Serbia as the country's Eurovision entry.
The singer, whose song is called 'Even If', beat former 'EastEnders' star Michelle Gayle in the public vote on Saturday night.
Speaking after he was selected for the Eurovision, Abraham said: "I'm freaked out. What can I say - the public have voted me in and I'm over the moon."
"I will try my best to make them proud out in Serbia. I really hope people in Europe will give the song a chance."
Abraham, who was the runner-up in the 2005 series of 'The X Factor', has been installed at odds of 25/1 to win the Eurovision by William Hill.
A spokesperson for William Hill, Rupert Adams, said: "Sadly it looks like we've got a bigger turkey than Ireland. In the future the UK will need to pick a novelty act to stand a chance."

Raveonettes, Little Ones to headline free LA festival

The Raveonettes and The Little Ones will headline a new music festival set to take place just outside of Los Angeles this summer.

Scarlett Johansson - Scarlett Johansson Delighted At Freedom Of Music

Scarlett Johansson has claimed she found the "freedom" of making an album a pleasant surprise.

The Lost in Translation star recently released her debut album Anywhere I Lay My Head, a collection of Tom Waits covers with David Bowie contributing backing vocals on two tracks.

And talking to thelondonpaper, the actress said the creative independence involved in making her debut record alongside producer Dave Sitek was markedly different to the experience of shooting a film.

"I found that making this record there was so much freedom," the 23-year-old explained. "When you shoot a movie, you do your part and you hope the editor keeps in your best takes.

"With this it was great to be involved in the whole creative process."

Johansson, who recently became engaged to fellow actor Ryan Reynolds, said the album was an "extremely personal experience for me".

"I have a relationship with every sound," she added.

"I know every part of it, every take, every sound, every dinner."

While the album has been met with a harsh reception by many critics, others have opined that were it released under any name other than one of such celebrity as Johansson's, it would have been hailed as a triumph.

Bowie features on Fannin' Street and recent single Falling Down and said earlier this year that her songs are "great".

"Scarlett's performances are mystical and twice cool," he wrote on his website in February.

"She creates a mood that could have been summoned by someone like Margery Latimer or Jeanette Winterson."


20/05/2008 14:39:41




See Also

Andy Williams (cd2)

Andy Williams (cd2)   
Artist: Andy Williams (cd2)

   Genre(s): 
Pop
   



Discography:


Essential Andy Williams   
 Essential Andy Williams

   Year: 2004   
Tracks: 13




 





Scent Of A Woman Director Risi Dies

Pee Wee Russell

Pee Wee Russell   
Artist: Pee Wee Russell

   Genre(s): 
Jazz
   



Discography:


Swingin' with Pee Wee   
 Swingin' with Pee Wee

   Year: 1999   
Tracks: 16




Pee Wee Russell, although never a virtuoso, was one of the giants of jazz. A highly expressive and unpredictable clarinettist, Russell was normally grouped in Dixieland-type groups passim his career, only his forward-looking and spontaneous solos (which often sounded as if he were thinking aloud) defied classification. A professional by the clock time he was 15, Pee Wee Russell played in Texas with Peck Kelley's group (meeting Jack Teagarden) and then in 1925 he was in St. Louis jamming with Bix Beiderbecke. Russell moved to New York in 1927 and gained some attention for his playing with Red Nichols' Five Pennies. Russell freelanced during the earned run average, making some notable records with Billy Banks in 1932 that matched him with Red Allen. He played clarinet and tenor with Louis Prima during 1935-1937, appearance on many records and enjoying the association.


Later departure Prima, he started working with Eddie Condon's carefree groups and would remain in Condon's eye socket on and off for the next 30 age. Pee Wee Russell's recordings with Condon in 1938 made him a asterisk in the trad Chicago jazz world. Russell was featured (simply oft the butt of jokes) on Condon's Town Hall Concerts. Heavy drink virtually killed him in 1950, only Russell made an unconvincing rejoinder and became more than assertive in running his career. He started ahead his own groups (which were more than swing than Dixieland-oriented), was a star on the 1957 television receiver exceptional The Sound of Jazz, and by the early '60s was playacting in a piano-less quartette with valve trombonist Marshall Brown whose repertoire included tunes by John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman; he even sabbatum in with Thelonious Monk at the 1963 Newport Jazz Festival and took up abstract house painting. But later the death of his married woman in 1967, Pee Wee Russell accelerated his boozing and went quickly downhill, passage away less than two eld later.





Jeremy Irons returns to Broadway in spring 2009